He scored one of the lead roles in the national tour of “Catch Me If You Can,” which kicks off the 2012-13 season of the Broadway in San Antonio series Tuesday.

“I've done, in between semesters of college and during the summers, some summer stock work, which has been very helpful, but I've never done anything like this,” Anthony said. “To be in the same room with our director, who was the assistant director on the Broadway production, and the show's choreographer, who was the dance captain on Broadway — it didn't feel real until I was in the room with them.”

The musical — just like the 2002 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks — is based on the true story of Frank Abagnale (DiCaprio in the movie, Anthony on the road). In the '60s, Abagnale managed to pass himself off as, at various points, a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer. He started running the scams, some of which depended in part on his check-forging skills, when he was just 16.

He got away with his less-than-legitimate enterprises for years, though he did eventually do some time. He then launched a career as a security consultant, advising businesses on how they could avoid being taken by someone like his younger self.

Most Popular

The key to getting away with presenting a false front like that, Anthony said, is “absolute confidence, absolute, laser-beam confidence.”

“One of the things from my own life that I can bring (to the part) is that once (Frank) got started, once all the cons began, he knew he was good at it. Once the show starts, I have to just know that everything I do is going to work.”

Merritt David Janes, who plays the FBI agent who helps bring Anthony's character to justice, was able to draw on a little family history for his role.

“My grandfather was a sheriff in the time period we're dealing with; he would have been as old as I am now,” Janes said. “And the gun that I carry in this show is the same gun that he carried when he was a sheriff — a .38 special.”

Janes is playing Hanks' role. Fans of the film looking for a scene-for-scene re-creation with a little singing and dancing thrown in will find something different, he said.

“It's got so much more than the movie ever did, to tell even more of the story,” he said. “Everybody who chooses to come see our show doesn't know what they're going to be in for. They're in for a night of re-telling a very interesting and entertaining true story.”

The team The show has quite a pedigree. The book was written by Terrence McNally, who also wrote “Ragtime” and “The Full Monty,” not to mention a slew of plays. The score comes frorm Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who wrote the music for “Hairspray.”

The source The show draws from the 2002 film and “Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake,” Frank Abagnale’s 2000 memoir.

Return visitor Merritt David Janes, who plays FBI agent Carl Hanratty in the show, is making his third appearance on the Majestic stage. He came through as Lumiere in “Beauty and the Beast” and in the title role with “The Wedding Singer.” He’s become a big fan of the city: “I just love going down to the River Walk. And any time I can play golf in San Antonio, I always love it.”